Red Squad: An Alternate Ending
by SadaraLochlan
Summary: As much as I enjoyed seeing the crew of the Valiant get what was coming to them in Valiant, part of me really wanted to see them survive so they could face the wrath of an actual starship captain on the way home.
1. Rescue

Captain Sadara Lochlan leaned back against the soft cushions of the beige colored couch in her ready room. Turning sideways, she rested an arm on the back of the couch and peered out at the stars pensively. Her reflection stared back at her through the window. Her chocolate brown hair was secured in the usual french twist she favored on duty. Around her aqua blue eyes and red lips, she noticed the fine lines becoming just a little more obvious. Whether it was stress or middle age or a combination of the two, she resisted the impulse to speculate. Just outside the door to her ready room, the officers currently on bridge duty would be conducting the seemingly never ending long range scans of the surrounding space. In a war that had seen few lulls, Lochlan's ship, the USS Sovereign, had been enjoying some much needed down time. Still, one couldn't be too careful and Captain Lochlan found it difficult to relax when the next Dominion warship could be lurking in the next nebula.

The Vulcan/Human hybrid had been asked to return to the captaincy in that way that sounded like one had a choice, but actually was an implied order. And after over a century in the service, Sadara knew an implied order when she heard one. As happy as she had been simply being a counselor for a change (she'd needed a break from the captain's chair for a little while), she couldn't say she blamed Starfleet Command from using every experienced captain at their disposal. After the Borg attack at Wolf 359 and now the Dominion War chipping away at Starfleet's reservoir of starships and personnel, experienced command personnel was a commodity. Sadara had commanded starships off and on over the decades and had a feeling this would happen.

Rising from her seat on the sofa, the captain chuckled softly to herself as she approached her replicator, enjoying the irony of her current situation. In her youth, Lochlan had been eager, almost impatiently so, to command a starship. She had wanted to be the first female to be given command of a starship in her own right. As it turned out, she would not be the first to reach that milestone, but would eventually command a starship, the USS Aries, after her daughter was grown.

"Computer…," she began, finally deciding on a mug of hot chocolate.

Suddenly the sound of her first officer's voice infiltrated the solitude of Sadara's thoughts.

"Bridge to Captain Lochlan."

Lochlan tapped her comm badge. "Go ahead, Commander."

"We're picking up a distress signal just inside Dominion held space; appears to be one of Starfleet's."

Commander Bryce Winchester's voice was laced with equal amounts of confusion and concern.

"I'm on my way." Moments later, Captain Lochlan appeared on the spacious, though dimly lit bridge of her sovereign class starship. As her Ready Room doors hissed shut behind her, she was greeted instead by the myriad beeps of the various brightly lit consoles surrounding her.

And by her burly, blonde haired, green eyed first officer, who rose from his chair to the right of the center seat and gestured to a console at the back of the bridge. The console displayed the data of the distressed ship and its location.

"The Valiant?" Lochlan whispered in astonishment. "The Valiant was reported missing almost 9 months ago. It was supposed to be on a training cruise. What's it doing in Dominion space?"

Winchester stroked his beard thoughtfully, pondering their potential courses of action and the consequences. "Do we dare enter Dominion held space though? And against a Dominion warship? We're not the Defiant; we don't have a cloaking device."

Sadara frowned. Commander Winchester was right; and inside her Vulcan half warred with her human half. To risk her own ship and crew of over 1500 for 30 others would be obscene to Vulcans as embodied in their saying of "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." Her human half though argued that standing by and doing nothing when others were in need was an abomination as well. Being a hybrid came with its own unique "cross to bear," Sadara had discovered over the years.

_If only they could be me for a day…_ she chuckled ruefully to herself. She glanced over at her first officer for a moment as she came to a decision. Though they'd only serving together for about a year, Lochlan knew Winchester had a good idea of which course of action she was leaning toward.

"Have I become that predictable?" She chuckled quietly. He grinned widely, though the cautionary look still tinged his bright green eyes.

"Well… you weren't at first if that makes you feel better."

A smirk tugged at her lips and lit up her eyes before she turned and made her way to the captain's chair. Commander Winchester perched on the edge of his chair next to her and checked his console to see if any new data had come in.

"Helm, plot an intercept course and engage at maximum warp," the captain called to her helmsman.

"Aye, captain," Ensign Alexandra Misseldon responded crisply.

"Red Alert! All hands to battlestations!"

As the Sovereign jumped to warp, the obnoxious, but nonetheless effective red alert klaxon began blaring all around them. Captain Lochlan let it go on for a few more moments before asking the sound to be mercifully muted (it hurt her more sensitive Vulcan ears), though the blinking red lights all around the bridge and the rest of the ship continued to communicate the impending battle.

"Signal the closest starships and apprise them of the situation. We may need help. With any luck, the Valiant can hold on a few more minutes."

Silence and tension permeated the bridge atmosphere like a dense fog in the early morning. Finally after a few moments, Commander Winchester looked over at his captain.

"The Defiant and the Bozeman are further out, but have responded and are in route, Captain."

"Thank you, Commander. Are we in range yet?" She called out to Ensign Misseldon.

Without looking away from her console, Misseldon called back nervously. "About 70 more seconds, Captain."

Out of her peripheral vision, Lochlan noticed Winchester smirking at her.

"What?"

"You're doing it again," he chuckled quietly.

The still attractive brunette groaned beside him. "You just can't help yourself, can you?"

Impatience manifested itself in Sadara Lochlan as fidgeting, most specifically the bouncing of her right leg when sitting down as if she could will the ship to move faster with her own energy. She had tried over the years to control this particular aspect of her body language, but in the end it had proven hopeless. To fidget while impatient was as much a part of her as her own head was.

"Approaching coordinates, captain. Dropping out of warp," Ensign Misseldon called out.

"On screen."

The forward viewscreen sprang to life in front of the bridge crew. There were some gasps at the extent of the damage already done to the Defiant class Valiant and the Dominion warship showed no signs of letting up. It was  
continuing to torpedo holes in the smaller ship like it was a wedge of swiss cheese.

"Extend shields around the Valiant and fire on the Dominion warship at will. Bridge to Transporter Room 3, beam the Valiant survivors aboard."

The Sovereign lashed out at the Dominion warship, phasers strafing the outer hull as a blast from the enemy ship rocked the smaller ship.

"Shields holding, but they won't be able to withstand much more of that." The chief engineer called from the back of the bridge.

"Understood."

"Transporter room to bridge, we have the Valiant survivors."

"Excellent. I want to use the Valiant as a distraction so we can get out of here, people. Let's see if we can lure the Dominion ship closer to the Valiant and the blow it up in their faces."

The bridge crew pondered that for a moment when Lochlan's female Klingon security chief, Lieutenant Vekma ventured an idea. "Tractor the Valiant as if you're going to take the wreckage back to Federation space just long enough to get them to tail us and then let it go suddenly. As the Dominion ship nears it, torpedo the Valiant's warp core."

Suddenly the Sovereign bucked again as another volley of torpedoes struck her. Ensign Misseldon had to grip her console tightly to keep from flying out of her chair. Sparks flew from one of the aft consoles and a small cloud of smoke began billowing behind Vekma.

"Keep returning fire," Lochlan said, and then turned to her first officer. "I'm liking that idea. I say let's give it a try. That is, if you don't mind dying another day, Vekma?" Sadara grinned up at her security chief, who grinned back, exposing a row of crooked teeth.

"I can think of better times to die than rescuing a bunch of snot nosed kids, Captain."

"Me too. Let's get a tractor beam on the Valiant and head for home, maximum warp. They'll either follow us or they won't."

Vekma quickly punched in commands on her console and the tractor beam leapt out and seized the Valiant in a mighty hold. Phasers and torpedoes shot out from the Sovereign repeatedly striking the Dominion warship.

Ensign Misseldon was swiftly keying in commands at her own console at the helm, her hands fluttering over the buttons and being acknowledged by the soft beeps and chirps. The large starship turned, and then suddenly jumped to warp.

"They are pursuing us," Vekma growled behind Lochlan.

"Get a lock on the Valiant's warp core and be prepared to drop her at my command." The Vulcan/Human hybrid appeared unusually stoic for her. She typically preferred her human half, but in crises she often tried for a more controlled affect.

"Alright, Vekma, let 'em have it."

"Disengaging tractor beam." Vekma watched the viewscreen in anticipation as Ensign Misseldon dropped the Sovereign out of warp just long enough for the Dominion warship to get close enough to the Valiant to execute their plan.

"Torpedoes away, captain."

"Warp speed, Ensign. Let's get while the getting's good."

The Sovereign leapt to warp again as Captain Lochlan called for the rear view on the viewscreen. They were just in time to see the torpedoes strike the Valiant's warp core and explode just underneath the front end of the Dominion Warship.

"Report!"

"The Dominion ship has suffered heavy damage to its outer hull, warp drive is inoperative, matter/anti-matter containment is unstable. She could blow."

"Well, it's a good thing we're not in the neighborhood anymore. Good work, people. Stand down red alert and alert the Defiant and the Bozeman about the Dominion warship. I'm heading down to sickbay. I am dying of curiosity how a ship on a training cruise ended up behind enemy lines. Bryce, you're with me. Vekma, you have the bridge."

"Yes, captain."

W^^^W^^^W

Sickbay was a flurry of activity as medical personnel tended to the injured crew of the lost Valiant. As Captain Lochlan observed the dejected looking cadets, she noted that their bodies weren't the only thing about them that was wounded. Their pride had taken a noticeable pounding as well. As much as Lochlan disliked the very notion of elite squadrons at StarfleetAcademy, she felt no satisfaction at the fate of the Valiant's crew.

Her chief medical officer, Toren Yaro motioned from across the room that he'd join them in a moment. The young Trill doctor was currently tending to someone who was in obvious pain. Lochlan took the opportunity to visit with as many of the cadets as she could and offer words of encouragement with her first officer taking her lead and branching off to the opposite side of the room to do the same.

Suddenly, the captain of the Sovereign was approached by a young Ferengi Ensign and his equally young human companion. Judging by their body language they were obviously anxious about something.

"Excuse me, Captain…, the Ferengi began.

"Go ahead, Ensign…?"

"Nog, ma'am."

"And I'm Jake Sisko," the much taller boy said quietly.

"Sisko. A relation of Captain Sisko I presume?"

Jake gave a very slight smile. It seemed as if he couldn't go anywhere without others putting two and two together. Hopefully someday he'd be able to carve out his own reputation and step out of the shadow of his father, however flattering that shadow might be. "Yes, ma'am. We need to let my father know where we are. The Valiant rescued us when we were attacked by a Dominion ship on the way to Ferenginar."

"Understood. Doctor, may we use your office momentarily?"

Dr. Yaro nodded as he moved along to the next patient. "Be my guest. I'll be right with you when you're through, Captain."

Ducking into the CMO's office, Sadara Lochlan gracefully dropped herself into the seat behind Dr. Yaro's desk and hailed the Defiant. The young men hung back near the door impatiently. Within moments, the screen flickered to life and Captain Benjamin Sisko's goateed countenance filled the screen.

"Captain Lochlan, I'm glad to see you made it out of there in one piece." His deep baritone was solemn and serious with relief mixed in there for flavor.

"You and me both, Captain. We were able to rescue 24 survivors from the Valiant. The wounded are being treated in sickbay now. Two of the survivors I believe belong to you."

The two boys joined her at the comm and grinned a bit sheepishly.

"Hi dad," Jake said a bit too cheerfully. Jake knew it wasn't his fault he had ended up on the Valiant, then the Sovereign when he and Nog should have been on Ferenginar, but he still felt a bit self conscious about it for reasons he didn't understand. At his father's surprised look, Jake went on. "We were rescued by the Valiant when our runabout was attacked by a Dominion ship."

They pulled back so Jake's father could resume talking to Captain Lochlan.

"We'll change course to rendezvous with the Sovereign and render any assistance you might need, Captain."

Sadara gave a slight nod and grinned ruefully. "Thank you, Captain. I'll try to have all the "fun stuff" done before you get here so you can take these two young men home as soon as possible."

"I would appreciate that, but do what you have to do. I understand how these things leave quite a mess to clean up."

Sisko cut the connection, leaving the much older Captain to begin the tedious and unhappy task of trying to piece together the events that led to the Valiant's destruction.

W^^^W^^^W

Exiting the CMO's office, Captain Lochlan instructed a few members of her crew to see to the comfort of their new passengers until the Sovereign's rendezvous with the Potemkin that would be transporting the Valiant survivors back to Earth. Jake and Nog accompanied one of those officers while Captain Lochlan joined her CMO who was now treating Commander Ferris' injuries.

It rankled Lochlan to have to refer to these cadets by ranks she felt they hadn't earned yet, but as they apparently had been battlefield commissioned by someone who had, she felt she had no choice but to respect the rank if not the individual. And she forcibly reminded herself that they were very young and inexperienced; and the young and inexperienced make mistakes as she had once. Still… sometimes a battlefield commission meant commanding one's group long enough to report back to Headquarters, not continue the original mission best left to more experienced officers. Apparently Watters hadn't received that memo. And if Captain Ramirez had instructed Watters to continue the original mission, then his judgment left something to be desired.

The Captain of the Sovereign spotted a disheveled Captain Tim Watters sitting up on a bio bed, his face buried in his hands, at the far end of sickbay. She approached him with her hand out in the manner traditional for introducing oneself to other humans.

"Captain Watters? I'm Sadara Lochlan, captain of the Sovereign. I trust you've been well taken care of?"

The young man straightened up and took her hand confidently, though he still appeared shaken up from the earlier battle with the Dominion warship.

"Captain. Thank you for the rescue. You showed up in the nick of time."

He seemed genuinely grateful, but there was also a trace of bitterness and indignation present in his tone and body language. Lochlan could relate somewhat. It was never pleasant when a mission didn't unfold as planned and hoped; and pride was wounded when one had to be bailed out by another crew.

"You're welcome. I just wish we could have saved everyone. I would like to see you in my ready room at 1800 hours to discuss the details. I'm sure you're well aware I must make my report to Starfleet Command soon."

"Yes, captain. I understand."

"Get some rest, Captain. We'll make sure your crew is comfortable."

W^^^W^^^W

Thirty minutes later, Sadara stood in her ready room peering pensively out into the blackness of space when the chime rang. She knew who it would be.

"Come in." She called out to the empty room.

The pewter hued doors hissed open to admit Commander Bryce Winchester and Counselor Henry Badgely.

"Reporting as ordered, Captain," Winchester said. He clasped his hands behind him and waited patiently with Badgely, who looked curious as to what all this was about.

Lochlan gestured to both of them. "Have a seat, gentlemen. As I'm sure you're both aware, I am… somewhat biased against elite squadrons in the Academy. I feel they create arrogance and over-confidence that will ultimately lead to unfortunate occurrences such as the one we're dealing with now. That said, I cannot let my personal feelings interfere with my judgment which is why I've called you both here. I've spent the last twenty minutes reviewing what footage we were able to transfer from the Valiant before its destruction. What I've seen troubles me so far, gentlemen."

Turning her monitor to face her first officer and ship's counselor, Sadara reset the playback time and waited patiently while her companions viewed the footage.

After the playback ended, Winchester leaned back in his seat and stroked his beard pensively, but said nothing immediately following.

Badgely on the other head shook his head in amazement. "Imagine being on board a ship where you can be chastised for holding conversations about home?"

"That's lack of life experience showing. They honestly, truly believe that what they're doing is for the best. What they don't realize is this isn't the way to handle a homesick crewmember. And don't even get me started on the fact that they were operating behind enemy lines without Starfleet's knowledge or permission. At any rate, I have to get the full story from "Captain" Watters in an hour and a half, but I want you two present this time. I don't wish to be too harsh with Watters, but what I've seen has really angered me."

"Understood, Captain. I request time to review more of the Valiant's footage in the interim." Winchester stood.

"Granted. Dismissed."

Lochlan remained seated and watched her first officer's retreating back for a moment. After the doors swooshed closed behind him, the captain of the Sovereign faced her ship's counselor.

"A bias against elite squadrons huh?" Counselor Badgely regarded his superior officer with a hint of amusement, but the underlying tone remained serious. "You served on board the original Enterprise at one point. Wasn't that considered an "elite squadron" of sorts?"

That earned him a raised left eyebrow from the Vulcan/Human woman. She could always count on Henry Badgely to challenge her thinking. It was one of the reasons she so enjoyed conversing with him.

"To some extent, I suppose you could say that, but that ship's reputation was forged by the accomplishments of a crew that were required to experience the Academy the same way every other average Joe did. And if that crew was motivated to become exceptional, it was because of the example set by the leadership of the Enterprise's senior staff, not because they'd had sunshine blown up their ass for four years."

Lochlan stopped for a moment and exhaled in frustration.

"I'm not explaining myself well here. My opinion is that telling 18-22 year olds that they're better than the rest of the cadets and giving them special everything is a recipe for disaster as we've just seen. Eventually they start to believe all the hype and that they're invincible until finally no one can contain them anymore. These kids were told all through the Academy that they're Red Squad and they're the best so when all of their senior staff gets killed in an attack behind enemy lines, they think they can take on the next Dominion warship. Without Stafleet's knowledge or permission I might add. It's foolishness, Henry."

Badgely listened attentively as Lochlan got that off her shoulders. After the recent incidents at the Academy involving elite units, one including Jack Crusher's son, Wesley Crusher, Badgely honestly couldn't say he didn't see where his Captain was coming from. But it was part of his job as counselor to help her see other angles.

"I'm sure the intent was to reward exemplary performance at the Academy." He pointed out.

"Of course it was, but the result was a group of narcissists it appears." Lochlan returned evenly. "If the Academy wants to reward stellar performances then do it the old fashioned way; give the cadets their choice of posting in whatever order their performance merits."

Lochlan sighed after a long moment. "Look Henry, I realize they're cadets and they're very young, and the young make mistakes; but they were wrong to not try to return to Federation space after their senior officers were killed. Field commission or not, it was inappropriate to continue hunting Dominion warships without Starfleet's knowledge. They continued to put themselves in jeopardy as well as the crew of other starships."

Badgely nodded. "I understand your perspective, Captain. But I do agree that it is wise to avoid being overly harsh with the young crew. I'm sure their intent wasn't to buck authority, but rather to live up to Captain Ramirez's expectations."

With a deep sigh, Lochlan peered out at the stars again before replying. "I know, Henry. I still remember what it was like to be a cadet even though it was many, many moons ago. You head out into space with all these goals and aspirations and an almost oppressive desire to make your superiors notice and appreciate you. It's not so much what they were doing that annoys me so, but *how*. So arrogant they almost got themselves killed. It's the system that produces that arrogance that upsets me most."

"Well Captain, since you seem to know your own mind on the subject, why don't we grab dinner real quick before it's time to meet with Captain Watters."

At that, Lochlan's left eyebrow disappeared almost into her hairline. "Are you suggesting I shouldn't grill Captain Watters on an empty stomach? What are you implying?"

"I'm implying nothing, Captain. I'm flat out saying you're grumpy when you're hungry."

"Really? That bad?"

"That bad."


	2. Ready Room Reality

Nervously, Captain Tim Watters tugged at the collar of his uniform as he stopped in front of the door to Captain Lochlan's Ready Room. He had no idea what to expect from this meeting. He worried that perhaps he was in hot water for something though he couldn't imagine what. After all, he'd only followed the last orders of Captain Ramirez as best he knew how. But the young man, impossibly young to be commanding a starship, couldn't help but wonder if he'd made the wrong decision to remain behind enemy lines in a desperate attempt to carry out the original mission. He'd wanted so much to prove that the Red Squad cadets were worthy of all the faith and effort Starfleet had put into them that he hadn't stopped to consider that bringing the crew back safely might have been the better way to prove that. Now Red Squad was being carried home on another vessel with its proverbial tail between its legs. It was a bitter pill to swallow.

Pressing the chime next to the door, Watters swallowed hard and straightened to full military bearing. He swore he could feel the eyes of everyone on the bridge boring into the back of his skull in judgment, but when he glanced around, everyone was minding their own stations. There was no sound save for the chirping consoles in the background on this dimly lit bridge, but even those sounds seemed to be mocking him as if to remind him that this was the bridge of another captain.

"Come in," came Lochlan's strong voice from the within the Ready Room. Her voice naturally carried so she wasn't hard to hear. Watters approached the desk and decided it would be best to remain at attention until told to do otherwise. He, like most everyone else didn't enjoy being "locked up" but he had to respect the fact that Captain Lochlan outranked him by time in grade by many, many moons and that made her the ranking officer.

Lochlan's first officer, Bryce Winchester was seated on the couch along with Counselor Badgely. Watters had not been expecting this to be a conference or interrogation, depending on how one looked at it. Lochlan looked up at Watters with hard, piercing blue eyes and stood.

"The Sovereign recovered as much data from the Valiant as possible. I, along with Commander Winchester and Counselor Badgely have been sifting through the details of how you came to be trapped behind enemy lines. I've taken into consideration that you and the rest of Red Squad continued the mission behind enemy lines because you were following Captain Ramirez' orders. This will come with life experience, but sometimes when one unexpectedly finds oneself in command and lacks the experience to continue the original mission, the new mission becomes returning the crew safely home."

Watters bristled at that. "Returning home would only have proven that we were cowards and too scared to carry out the mission."

"At ease," Lochlan rounded her desk and raised an eyebrow as Watters assumed a slightly more relaxed posture. "Believe me, I understand your perspective. When I was your age, I likely would have believed similar. Sometimes though survival is the mission and "retreat is the better part of valor" as they say. No one would have looked down on you for returning home."

"Is that how you've managed to survive over a century in the service? Playing it safe?" The instant the remark flew out of Watters' mouth, he knew he'd stepped off into it in ways he wasn't ready for, but he had wearied of being lectured by a relic of the old days in Starfleet. Unexpectedly, it wasn't anger that shown back in those cold blue eyes, but an amusement that almost seemed to be mocking the much younger individual.

"Ah yes, safe. Safe as in patrolling the Klingon Neutral Zone for several years in an aging, rickety old border cutter that was practically held together with duct tape and the willpower of my chief engineer. Safe as in stranded on a harsh planet with a group of surly, violent Klingons while they were still at war with the Federation. Safe as in crossing into enemy territory to fight off a Dominion warship in an effort to rescue a group of misguided, foolish, elitist, and arrogant group of cadets? By all means, do go on about my penchant for "playing it safe."

Captain Lochlan came to within a foot of Captain Watters and he straightened to attention almost instinctively as her icy stare dared him to continue his defiant attitude. The silence was more unnerving than her lecture, he discovered as he wilted under her withering gaze and he looked off to the far right corner of her ready room.

Realizing the brash young man had nothing, Sadara nodded, amusement slightly lifting the corners of her lips. Her eyes lingered on him slightly before she returned to her side of the desk and lowered herself into her chair, looking up at the tense man.

"I attempted to address this in a way that would be less painful for you, but as you wish to play hardball, we'll have it your way. My recommendation to Starfleet will be to strip your field commissions and return you all to finish your time at the Academy, sans your status as an elite squadron. In fact, my proposal to Starfleet will be to dismantle any and all elite squadrons as they appear to produce little more than officers with overinflated egos and senses of entitlement. I had hoped that you would have learned something about humility from the experiences of the last few days, but it seems as if the loss of several of your crewmembers and the destruction of the Valiant haven't made so much as a dent in the neutral zone around your head."

Lochlan noted the flinch in Watter's expression as she announced her decisions and she felt slightly guilty that she enjoyed it.

"Starfleet is not a tyranny. Throwing Mr. Sisko in the brig for daring to point out your foolishness demonstrated only that you are unready for starship command. That is not the first option in dealing with someone challenging your decisions, especially a civilian. You have a long way to go to earn those pips, Mr. Watters. Now get out of my ready room and off my bridge."

Clenching his jaw, Watters did an about face and departed the captain's ready room quietly. As he entered the turbolift, he leaned against the wall and looked up. He had to formulate an argument for Starfleet to counter Captain Lochlan's, but he feared she had too much clout to overcome.


End file.
